I live in the Irvington neighborhood of NE Portland, Oregon. When I was looking for homes to buy, I knew exactly what I was looking for. I wanted to live on the East side of the river, but close enough to the City Center that I could still get there by bike in 10 minutes. I love to eat good food, so walking distance to restaurants was a must. I’ve also been known to occasionally partake in a drink or two, so being able to crawl home from bars was also a must. I was also looking for was easy access to the freeway. I know it’s not something everyone looks for, but it’s more convenient than you may think. I’m 6 blocks from I-84 and 12 from I-5 so access is simple, and I can get anywhere in the city in less than 15 minutes. More importantly, getting out of the city is a breeze. The Oregon Coast and the mountains are both only about an hour and a half away.

Here are a few fun facts about the Irvington neighborhood:

The name for the neighborhood came from one of the oversight developers for the neighborhood named Irvington Investment Company in 1890.

The Free Rail Zone (free zone to ride) for Max transportation starts at Lloyd Center, so you can take a short walk and be right downtown or to the Rose Garden to see a show in no time.

There is a great high-end Lingerie shop on Broadway called Oh Baby that is sure to heat things up on a cold day. It has won the award for best lingerie shop from The Willamette Week since it first opened.

Irvington boasts one of two Portland Tiki Bars, Thatch, that serves a drink called the Volcano bowl, which comes to your table on fire and requires a minimum 3 people to even order it!

Irvington is incredibly easy to traverse on foot. WalkScore.com gave Irvington a walk score of 75/100 making it the 11th most walkable neighborhood in Portland.

If you like to cook fresh produce, the Irvington Farmers Market is for you. It is open on Tuesdays from 10am-2pm and is only closed between Christmas and New Year's.

If you look around the neighborhood, you can still find the old iron rings that were planted in the sidewalks for tying up your horse.